August 7, 2018

Privacy News Keeps Getting Worse

Here’s a scary statistic: 66% of Americans think their Internet Service Provider is selling their behavioral data to advertisers. Three-quarters think the government has access to it. I’m pretty sure neither statement is correct, so this shows a truly frightening combination of ignorance and paranoia blocking a reasoned discussion on these topics. The data comes from Open Garden, which is working on a bandwidth sharing alternative to conventional ISPs.

A more credible survey, by Frost & Sullivan for CA Technologies, actually suggests that consumers underestimate how widely their data is shared: 83% of financial services companies and 74% of healthcare executives reported their company shares personal consumer data, while only 48% of consumers think this this happens. Other disconnects: 43% of business leaders say their company shares personal information but only 15% of information security professionals are aware of the practice. And 85% of business leaders think they provide clear information on their data policies while just 49% of consumers agree. Yikes!

If you still need a reason to worry about privacy, try this: Trump Administration is working on the issue. True to form, they’ve consulted with businesses that gather data, including Facebook, Alphabet and Comcast, but no consumer advocates. Presumably the plan is to preempt strong state legislation with a weaker federal law.

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